Southern Grove Restaurant is a “Modern Eatery & Bar” and while looking at the cocktail menu I could see that. I am a lover of bourbon so I had to try the The Woodcutter which is prepared with Woodford Reserve Bourbon. Bringing craft cocktails into the fold while putting on a bit of a show, our bartender Tiffany prepared the Smokey Bear using a smoke machine which gave this mezcal based drink an even smokier flavor. The cocktail is also prepared with a spicy jalapeno syrup that is made in-house. Tiffany gave me a little taste of the syrup and initially you don’t taste the spice. You actually get it more on the back-end.

For appetizers we started with the loaded tater tots. Now, I was expecting your typical tater tots, loaded with cheese, bacon and scallion. But these are large home-made tater tots that are stuffed. Although not what I expected, I really enjoyed them. I think they are the ideal app for sharing or something to nibble on while indulging in cocktails.

One of the Chef specials for the night was the seared scallops on a lemongrass skewer and served with a buerre blanc sauce. This. Was. Awesome. The scallops had a nice sear on the outside and was cooked perfectly. The buerre blanc sauce which is a French sauce made of butter, white wine and shallots was flavorful, rich and delicious. It took me back to culinary school as this was one of the first sauces we learned to prepare.

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For entrees we also ordered one of the Chef specials which was the surf and turf and we had to order the fried chicken and waffles. The staff raved about it so we decided to follow their lead. The surf and turf was a simply prepared grilled steak with three large tempura fried shrimp and grilled asparagus. The steak was well prepared to medium temperature and was seasoned lightly. I enjoyed the tempura fried shrimp however, I would have preferred it to not have the shell on when it was fried. Aesthetically it’s pretty, but not very practical when it’s time to eat. All of the tempura goodness is removed in order to get to the shrimp.

The star of the evening no doubt was the fried chicken and waffles. Because it’s a Southern staple, the expectations for this dish are high no matter what restaurant you visit. Marlen, the sous chef at Southern Grove Restaurant did a fantastic job! My friend Tavares and I took one look at the plate, had a bite of the chicken and said to ourselves, “that’s grandma recipe right there”. LOL!! We weren’t surprised when Chef Marlen confirmed what we had already expected. He did in fact use his grandmother’s recipe. This chicken was seasoned in a buttermilk batter and then fried to golden crisp perfection. It was tender, juicy and it had steam coming from it when you cut into it. We couldn’t believe the portion size either. You get and entire half chicken and waffle for $18!! You can for sure share this with someone! I can’t leave the waffle out lol because it was prepared just how I like it. Crisp edges, but nice and soft in the middle.

Overall, I really enjoyed my meal at Southern Grove Restaurant. I highly recommend leaving your diet at home though lol. The staff (Dale, Tiffany and Marlen) were simply amazing and beyond accommodating. I had a great time hanging out with them and I feel like I made some new friends. Tavares loved it so much, that he went back the following week! I’ve taken him to a few restaurants with me and this is the first time that’s happened. So our great experience left a lasting impression on him and that says a lot.